Conveyor belts

Claim 1

A CONVEYOR BELT COMPRISING A NUMBER OF TRANSVERSE LINKS OF STRIP MATERIAL BENT IN ZIG-ZAG FORM SO AS TO HAVE TRANSVERSELY SPACED LIMB PORTIONS EXTENDING GENERALLY IN THE LONGITUDINAL DIRECTION OF THE BELT AND TRANSVERSELY EXTENDING PORTIONS CONNECTING ADJACENT LIMB PORTIONS OF EACH LINK ALTERNATELY AT THE LEADING AND TRAILING MARGINS OF THE LINK WITH THE TOP EDGES OF SAID LIMB PORTIONS AND CONNECTING PORTIONS BEING COPLANAR AND CONSTITUTING THE LOAD CARRYING SURFACE OF THE BELT, EACH LINK FURTHER HAVING OPENINGS IN THE LIMB PORTIONS ADJACENT THE LEADING AND TRAILING MARGINS OF THE LINK, SAID LINKS BEING ARRANGED SUCCESSIVELY WITH THE LIMB PORTIONS OF ADJACENT LINKS OVERLAPPING SLIGHTLY IN SAID LONGITUDINAL DIRECTION OF THE BELT SO THAT SAID OPENINGS ADJACENT THE LEADING MARGIN OF EACH LINK ARE ALIGNED TRANSVERSELY WITH SAID OPENINGS ADJACENT THE TRAILING MARGIN OF THE ADJACENT LINK, STRAIGHT RODS EXTENDING THROUGH SAID ALIGNED OPENINGS OF ADJACENT LINKS FOR PIVOTALLY CONNECTING THE LATTER, SAID RODS HAVING END PORTIONS PROJECTING TRANSVERSELY BEYOND THE LIMB PORTIONS AT THE OPPOSITE ENDS OF THE LINKS CONNECTED THEREBY, AND A CYLINDRICAL SPRING CLIP FOR EACH OF SAID END PORTIONS OF THE RODS, SAID CLIP BEING LONGITUDINALLY SPLIT TO DEFINE LONGITUDINAL EDGES AND A GAP THEREBETWEEN RECEIVING THE RELATED END PORTION OF A ROD, SAID CLIP BEING DISPOSED WITH ITS LONGITUDINAL AXIS PERPENDICULAR TO SAID LOAD CARRYING SURFACE OF THE BELT AND WITH SAID LONGITUDINAL EDGES OF THE CLIP IN CLAMPING ENGAGEMENT WITH DIAMETRICALLY OPPOSED POINTS ON THE SURFACE OF THE RELATED END PORTION OF THE ROD AT THE OUTSIDE AND INSIDE, RESPECTIVELY, OF THE END LIMB PORTION THROUGH WHICH SAID ROD EXTENDS.